Here at the Sunshine Farm, we are passionate about food. If you’ve ever taken a tour of the farm and heard one of my long-winded narrations on the what, how, and why of our operation, you’ve seen some of that passion.
Another fellow passionate about food is Michael Pollan, author of several books exploring what we as humans eat (and why). Pollan is a writer’s writer, weaving together science, history, anecdote, and commentary with a grace that leaves me smiling. Even if you could care less about food, I would recommend him as an author for the sheer beauty of his prose.
Pollan’s latest book, In Defense of Food, addresses the question explored in his previous book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Namely, what should we eat? This may sound like a silly question at first. But unlike, say, koala bears, who come pre-scripted with a strict diet of Eucalyptus leaves, we can eat almost anything. And in modern times, unbounded by cultural tradition or simply scarcity, how do we choose among all the dazzling choices? What should we eat?
Humans used to know how to eat well, Pollan argues. But the balanced dietary lessons that were once passed down through generations have been confused, complicated, and distorted by nutritional scientists, food industry marketers, and journalists—all of whom have much to gain from our dietary confusion. As a result, our discussions about food—and our shopping carts—are no longer filled with food as whole entities (beef, egg, apple) but with packages of “nutrients” (fat, , cholesterol). The last fifty years have seen real foods shoved to the margins while “edible foodlike substances” move front and center, complete with shiny labels bearing health claims that are not only misleading but in large part based on bad science.
Taking a clear-eyed look at what science does and does not know about the links between diet and health, Pollan proposes a new way to think about the questions of what to eat that is infotrmed by ecology and tradition, rather than by a paltry “nutritionism”.
He offers not just a new way to think, but practical advice. He begins with this simple axiom: “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” He picks grandma’s mom because, depending on your age, there’s a good chance that your grandma grew up in the age of modern food. The point is to go back before food products became a long amalgamation of different parts.
Which leads into his second piece of advice: “Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high-fructose corn syrup.”
His point here is to buy whole foods wherever possible. Things like fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, pasta, and fresh meat. Armed with these two rules of thumb, a shopper has no more need of three-quarters of the products in a grocery store.
Whether you are new to learning about food or have been eating with thought for years, Pollan’s books offer some good insight into our most basic of human daily activities. Critics call Pollan an elitist, claiming that the general public doesn’t have the resources to follow his practices. I would venture otherwise. Certainly planting a garden doesn’t cost much money. Nor does cooking with whole foods. What his suggestions do require are some investment of thoughtfulness and time. They require us to ask the questions: what am I eating? where does it come from? and how can I best prepare it?
I’ve found, as many of you have, that answering these questions takes no time at all if you eat a seasonal diet, cook with fresh ingredients, and have a few friends over now and again to swap recipes!
So, here’s to the Defense of Food. Whether it’s on the national stage with Pollan or the local stage here at the Sunshine Farm, it’s a fight worth fighting. And a delicious one at that.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 1:46PM 
